Divorce Does NOT Stop Your Obligation as a Sponsor for Spousal Immigration
Immigration may be weighing heavily on your mind in light of the election and related political concerns, and even more so if spousal immigration is part of your plan. If you or your beloved want a green card via marriage, then the U.S. citizen will likely need to sign an Affidavit of Support. You can learn about this form through the official government site here.
According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) website:
"Form I-864, Affidavit of Support under Section 213A of the INA, is a contract an individual signs agreeing to use their financial resources to support the intending immigrant named on the affidavit. The individual who signs the affidavit of support becomes the sponsor once the intending immigrant becomes a lawful permanent resident. The sponsor is usually the petitioner who filed an immigrant petition on behalf of the intending immigrant."
An affidavit of support is a legally enforceable contract, and the sponsor’s responsibility usually lasts until the family member or other individual either becomes a U.S. citizen, or is credited with 40 quarters of work (usually 10 years).
In the section titled, “Responsibilities as a Sponsor,” on the official website, USCIS emphasizes one point clearly, which is reproduced directly from the government website as is:
"Note:
Divorce does NOT end
the sponsorship obligation."
USCIS makes sure that a sponsor - often the U.S. citizen spouse - understands the monetary commitment:
"When you sign the [A]ffidavit of [S]upport, you accept legal responsibility for financially supporting the sponsored immigrant(s), generally until they become U.S. citizens or are credited with 40 quarters of work. Your obligation as a sponsor also ends if you or the individual sponsored dies or if the individual sponsored ceases to be a lawful permanent resident and departs the United States."
In other words, four (4) main things will terminate your monetary obligation as sponsor:
- death of either party;
- the sponsored party gets citizenship;
- the sponsored party completes 40 quarters work (which may take around 10 years); or
- the sponsored part leaves the U.S. if they are no longer considered lawful.
Divorce will not relieve you of your obligation under the Affidavit of Support, and even the sponsored party’s receipt of welfare benefits will not stop your financial responsibility; in fact, if the sponsored party uses U.S. welfare benefits in any state, you are on the hook to repay the taxpayers via reimbursing whichever agency provided those benefits, and you may be sued for such reimbursement.
"If an immigrant you sponsored receives any means-tested public benefits, you are responsible for repaying the cost of those benefits to the agency that provided them. If you do not repay the debt, the agency or the immigrant can sue you in court to get the money owed. Any joint sponsors and household members who allowed the sponsor to combine their income with the sponsor’s income to meet the minimum income requirements are also legally responsible for financially supporting the sponsored immigrant. In fact, any joint sponsor and household member is jointly or severally liable with the petitioning sponsor, meaning that the joint sponsor and household member are independently liable for the full extent of the reimbursement obligation and can be sued in court or be asked to pay the money owed, even if the petitioning sponsor is not sued or asked for money."
If you are the U.S. citizen sponsor, consider your financial position now and ten years - and thereafter - from now very carefully: the Affidavit of Support alone ties you to monetary support of the sponsored party and/or to reimbursement of government agencies if any welfare benefit was supplied.
But who protects the sponsor’s interests and financial health given the risk of divorce litigation for any married couple plus the severity of the liability via the Affidavit of Support?
While some assets may be impacted via the obligations under the Affidavit of Support, a prenuptial agreement can protect the other assets to ensure that they aren’t lost in a divorce. Imagine the double whammy of losing money and other assets through a divorce and then continuing to lose money and assets after the divorce through the Affidavit of Support!
If you sign the Affidavit of Support, you owe it to yourself and to your other family members to secure your assets and your inheritance through a prenuptial (or postnuptial) agreement.
More and more Americans – especially the Millennials - now understand that prenups are not for the ultra-wealthy. Prenups solve a number of money management concerns that may involve business deals, inheritance worries, lawsuits, creditors, and reducing a your anxiety and trauma from watching one's own parents battle through a nasty divorce that depleted each parent’s emotional and financial funds.
Too late to draft an enforceable prenup? Ask us about our solution to protect your premarital assets even at this too-late date through scheduling a consultation at the blue button below.
Warning: All posts on JustPrenups.com contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. The information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com.
